


Superhero Tales: The Bard

by J_A_Phillips



Series: J.A. Phillips' Starverse [6]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Hypnotism, Magical Girls, MerMay, Mind Control, Sirens, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 08:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18687682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_A_Phillips/pseuds/J_A_Phillips
Summary: A one-shot about one of my original superheroes. Also, was inadvertently made in time for MerMay.When a young fisherman finds himself the unwitting target of a very unique type of serial killer, he's going to need a very unique type of help.





	Superhero Tales: The Bard

_It's difficult to say exactly when in history the term 'siren' became synonymous with mermaids. In original Greek mythology, the sirens more resembled bird-women. And yet, in other parts of the world, the sirens were more envisioned to be what we think of mermaids to appear as. In fact, there exist cultures where the terms for both are identical. As such, most of the modern world envisions the sirens to be mermaids, though few fully understand why._

_...It is information kept out of the eyes and ears of the modern world. The tales of how the original avian sirens obtained their ability to lure men to their doom with their songs. The legends of the ancient artifacts that were used to hone this power. And how those same artifacts may have found their way into hands that never should have considered holding them..._

* * *

It was a cold and foggy night in the port town of New Prower, British Columbia. Most people in the town stayed indoors on nights like these. It wasn't as if there was a lot of crime, though, or anything like that. Sure, the town had its problems, the same as any other, but nothing too huge. No, the reason most people in the town stayed inside during dark, cold, foggy nights was because of the strange rumours regarding missing persons as of late.

Travis Thorne, however, didn't believe these rumours, though. So many people going missing all at once in such a small town seemed unlikely. He thought it was just people having their fun by way of scaring the small populace. And he enjoyed the evening air and the serene quiet as he strolled along the boardwalk. It was soothing to him after long, hard days of unloading fishing ships.

As Travis walked along, though, he heard a soft, pleasant sound echoing through the night air. It sounded like someone vocalizing to the tune of an old folk song. Looking around, he eventually found the source: A young, rather curvy woman, resting her upper body up against the boardwalk while the rest of her was submerged. Her hair was orange with a few rose-coloured streaks running through them. She wore a green bikini top that barely covered her large chest, golden bands along her arms, and a green and gold bracelet on her right arm. Everything else wasn't visible, as it was under water.

Travis couldn't help but feel his blood turn a bit warmer at the mere sight of her, but one look at her eyes, those seductive eyes, told him to turn around and go home to his wife. Before he could finish turning, though, he stopped, as the sound of the red-haired woman's song began to overwhelm his thoughts of leaving. Glancing back at her, he watched as she lifted herself up enough to show the hem of her green skirt resting along her midriff, and he felt his body warm up even more as her bracelet began to shimmer. Within moments, he found himself walking toward her, during which her lime green eyes began to glow blue, and the water under her raised up to be level with Travis. This let him see the long, green, scaly tail of a mermaid flowing out of her skirt.

The sight of the mermaid with glowing eyes in control of the water should've been a warning sign to leave immediately, but Travis kept trudging forward, utterly enthralled by the woman. "Who...are you?"

The woman smiled warmly. "My name is Melodire."

"Melodire," Travis whispered in awe. "You're...so beautiful. I want...to touch you. To feel you."

Melodire's smile took on a far more dark and devious look as she held out her arms for Travis, the water pulling her a few feet away from the boardwalk. "Come to me."

Travis nodded, continuing to walk toward the mermaid, his hand reaching out as if to touch her face. Before he could step off of the boardwalk and fall into the water, however, a series of silky strings launched out and grabbed hold of him from behind, pulling him away from Melodire. The redheaded mermaid's eyes bulged in rage as her prey was yanked to safety, and she quickly spotted the one responsible as she stepped out from behind some crates: A dark-haired girl in her early 20s with both Asian and Caucasian features to her skin, wearing a pink coat, purple framed glasses, and black snow pants. She was holding what looked to be a conductor's baton with the word 'Shimomura' engraved on it in her right hand, only it had the wings of a moth near the tip, and had a large music case slung over her left shoulder.

"See, THIS is why I don't date: You NEVER know who might be some nut trying to drown you," the girl exclaimed, just as Travis was beginning to come out of his trance. "...Yeah, you might wanna run home. Right now."

Travis nodded, scrambling to his feet and running away, all the while Melodire clicked her tongue in disappointment. "That was a mistake. You should've let me take him. He at least would've been shown the time of his life before the waters claimed it. Now, you'll be the one brought to the depths, and I promise you, it won't be as enjoyable...though, you MAY still find SOME pleasure before the end...!"

With that, Melodire began to sing again, raising her arm toward the dark-haired girl as her bracelet started glowing. However, to the mermaid's confusion, nothing happened. Even after a full thirty seconds, far longer than she'd ever needed to sway someone, there was no visible effect on the girl. She stared in bafflement, which quickly turned into rage.

"Sorry, won't work," the girl explained, limbering up a bit. "I looked up how that bracelet of yours works. Apparently, you need the target to have at least some base infatuation with you. Doesn't really work on people who don't get infatuated."

Melodire hissed indignantly, raising her hand as water began to rise up from the lake and gather into a sphere. She then threw her hand forward, launching a torrential blast at the girl. However, before it could make contact, the half-Asian, half-Caucasian young woman swung her baton through the air, releasing silk from the tip that formed into a wall in mid-air, protecting her. As she continued to wave the baton, the silk took on the shape of a musical staff, while an orchestral score could be heard vibrating off of it. As the music intensified, the silk began to circle back around and surround the girl like a loose cocoon. The silk spread across her, slowly changing colour to various shades of pink, brown, and black. The silk shimmered brightly before reforming into new clothes that replaced the girl's original ones. Now, she was wearing a large pink hat with a feather sticking out the side, pink framed and tinted glasses, a pink cloak draped around her shoulders and flowing down her back, a pink top with a black corset around her waist, black jeans, a brown leather belt with pouches tied to it, and brown boots. Her case that was once slung over her back was now standing upright alongside her.

"Now, let's harmonize, shall we?" The Bard inquired, adjusting her glasses.

Gritting her teeth hard, Melodire gathered several large spheres of water into the air. As she did, the Bard opened her case, revealing the inside to be a glimmering portal of sorts. Reaching in, she grabbed hold of and pulled out a violin and bow. The violin had the name 'Stirling' engraved in silver lettering along the side, while the bow's side read 'Davis'. As Melodire released a series of rapid-fire bursts of water, the Magical Minstrel simply played on her violin, releasing whimsical and weaving rays of light that shot into the attacks with enough force to evaporate them. The rays then made their way directly for Melodire herself, who slapped her tail and deflected them without so much as a scratch.

Manipulating the water underneath her that was keeping her afloat, Melodire brought herself quickly across the boardwalk toward the Bard, tearing up said boards as she went. The Musical Magical Girl backed up and kept firing light blasts from her violin, but each time, Melodire blocked them with her tail, which was proving to be incredibly strong. She knew she needed to switch instruments, but as she reached for her case, watery tendrils reached out and grabbed it, pulling it out of her reach, while another grabbed hold of her ankle.

"Oh, crap!" the Bard cursed, just before being flung away and sent tumbling through a grassy field, her violin and bow falling a few feet away from her.

"We could've made this SO much easier, you know," Melodire observed as she was carried through the boardwalk. "You could've come to me with little to no resistance, but you had to play hard to get."

"Ugh, why do hypersexuals keep trying to get in my pants?" Bard moaned, rolling to her side and grabbing hold of a blade of grass. "Is it some kind of 'forbidden fruit' thing, where you need to have what you can't get?"

"Oh, sweetie, I can have whatever I want," the ginger mermaid boasted, being brought just a foot away from her fallen enemy as watery tendrils reached for the Musical Minstrel's arms and legs. Before they could latch onto her, though, the Bard brought the blade of grass in her hand to her lips and blew hard on it, the sound echoing through the night air. Melodire cocked an eyebrow in confusion, forcing the water to wrap itself around the younger girl's wrists, ankles, and throat, and pin her to the ground. "...What was that supposed to be? An attack whistle?"

The Bard merely grinned back up at Melodire, even as the water continued to pump out, slowly engulfing her body. "Something like that..."

Melodire blinked, right before the sound of a shrill voice crying out "KAAWOOOOOOOOOMMM!" through the sky rang out. The mermaid turned around just in time to see a massive, green and orange-furred moth, swooping straight at her. She managed to dive out of the way of getting tackled, but still was caught by the tip of the moth's left wing and sent rolling end over end across the ground. The moth then spun several strands of silk, not unlike the ones the Bard used earlier, and yanked her free from the watery prison that had been forming around her, bringing her softly onto his back.

"Nice timing, Chi!" the Bard exclaimed, petting her ally as he used another strand of silk to fetch and return her case. "Now, let's do something about Evil Ariel here!"

"Your pet won't save you!" Melodire insisted, her water gathering to not only raise her up off the ground but form a giant whirlpool around her.

The Bard only grinned confidently as she reached into her case and pulled out an electric guitar, with the word 'Tallarico' emblazoned on it. Hopping up onto Chi's head, she played a mighty riff that fired a bolt of lightning from the headstock of the guitar, which whizzed straight through the whirlpool. Unfortunately, Melodire swung her tail at the blast to intercept it, leaving herself once again unscathed. However, seeing this, Bard instead played a long guitar solo on the strings, releasing several bursts of electricity that arched towards the mermaid, traveling along the very water that surrounded her and catching her in her upper body, stunning her hard and forcing the water she'd been gathering to splash down to the ground. Melodire flopped across the grassy hill, groaning in pain.

"You...scrawny...bitch...!" Melodire moaned, trying to pull herself up, her once beautiful hair now frizzled horribly.

The Bard sighed as Chi brought her back down to the ground, hopping off his head and putting her instruments back in their case, save for her baton. "C'mon, be a little more creative with the insults at least."

"What are you going to do to me now, huh?" Melodire inquired, staring indignantly into the Magical Minstrel's eyes. "Kill me?"

"I could, no doubt," the Bard acknowledged, reaching down to remove the bracelet from Melodire's arm. "I don't think anyone will shed tears over the dead serial killer. But, the thing is, I was asked to bring you in alive."

"You were...what?" Melodire asked, confused.

"MELODIIIIRE!" a familiar voice roared from the ocean. Within seconds, another mermaid, this one with teal hair and wearing a golden, glittering tiara, emerged on a large wave of water. She glared angrily down at the fallen redhead.

"...Eheh, hi, Mom!" Melodire greeted nervously, pulling herself up finally. "Been awhi-"

"Don't you 'Hi, Mom' me, young lady!" the older mermaid yelled, grabbing Melodire tightly by the ear. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?! Stealing the ancient siren artifact?! Luring surface-dwellers to their doom?! Have you learned NOTHING from those who used such power for their own gain?!"

"Ow, I'm sorry, Mo-Ow!" Melodire whimpered as her mother continued to pull on her ear.

"You will be LUCKY if imprisonment is the worst you get!" Melodire's mother snarled before turning her attention to the Bard, trying her best to calm herself. "...Thank you for this, Miss Huang. I regret putting you in any danger."

Robina Huang tipped her hat respectfully before handing the bracelet to the older mermaid. "All part of the job, Your Highness."

"Rest assured, you and your agency will be compensated for the work you've done for my people," the mermaid Princess declared before glaring back at Melodire. "Let's go, Melodire."

Melodire continued to whimper and whine pathetically as she was escorted by her mother back to the ocean, the two disappearing under the waves. With them gone, Robina rolled her eyes and turned to pet Chi. The gigantic moth nuzzled her as softly as possible, so as to avoid knocking her over due to the size difference between the two.

"Some people are just hopeless, huh boy?" the Bard asked, getting a soft mewl in response. "I know, right? I guess humans aren't the only people who need to teach socialization and kindness in school."

**Author's Note:**

> So, for the sake of people who don't know, The Bard was co-created with N. Harmonik. Basically, I wanted to make a superhero based on her, and she wanted one who was musically themed, so I came up with a sort of odd hybrid of a magical girl, a Green Lantern, and a bard from D&D/Final Fantasy. Robina Huang is a half-Scottish, half-Taiwanese woman from Canada, operating as the Magical Minstrel known as The Bard, who can use an enchanted music case that acts as a portal to another dimension, from which she can call upon any musical instrument she wishes, and each one has its own special power-up or weapon-mode. Among her arsenal is a conductor's baton called 'Shimomura' which can spin near-infinite amounts of silk and allows her to summon her costume, a violin named 'Stirling' that unleashes solar rays when played, a violin bow named 'Davis' with a razor sharp string, and an electric guitar named 'Tallarico' that can fire bolts of lightning when played. Lastly, by blowing on a grass whistle, Robina can instantly summon a giant moth from the other dimension named Chi, who can fly at supersonic speeds, emit powerful sonic screeches, and spin silk as strong as steel.
> 
> As for Bard's opponent in this story, Melodire is a mermaid in possession with an ancient bracelet that channels ancient avian magic. With it, she can use her own voice to hypnotize people into doing as she wishes, but only if they possess a base infatuation with her. Otherwise, Melodire can also use her own tail to block most forms of attack, and use old hydrokinetic magic to control water however she chooses. And the primary reason we used Melodire here is because, while the Bard would be immune to her mind control, her more water-based powers would present a big problem for the Musical Magical Girl.
> 
> Anyway, lemme know what you think of this one-shot, and if you'd like to see any more for The Bard or other characters I've made in the future. Ja né!


End file.
